Dil Dil Pakistan: Old Images of Sindh

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Photograph of the Tomb of Makhdum Saheb at Hala in Sindh, taken by Henry Cousens in 1896

Full-length standing studio portrait of a Muslim girl from Karachi in Sind, Pakistan, taken by Michie and Company in c. 1870

The girl in the photograph demonstrates the method of wearing ear and nose rings, necklace and anklets. She is also wearing ceremonial dress and has a lock of hair pulled down over her forehead.

Photograph of the Shrine of Zind Pir at Sukkur in the Shikarpur District of Sindh in Pakistan, taken by Henry Cousens in 1896-7. This view looks across the causeway towards the entrance to the tomb.

Cousens wrote in the Progress Report of the Archaeological Survey of Sindh, 1897, "Upon the upper side of Sukkur, and joined to it at low water, is the compact little island upon which, under the cool shade of some large trees, is the famous shrine of Zinda or 'Zind' Pir. The island has been raised and protected against the corrosion of the river by retaining walls of strong rubble masonry all around. The great gateway facing Rohri is a far more imposing structure than the mean little domed shrine itself. The latter occupies the centre of the island, and is a remarkable plain small square building surmounted by a low dome..."

Photograph of Pir Rukan Shah's Tomb at Matiari in Sind. 1895. This is a general view of the tomb, a square domed building, built in 1764.

Photograph with a view looking over the houses of the town towards the Baluch Lines of the Karachi Cantonment, taken by an unknown photographer, c.1900, from an album of 46 prints titled 'Karachi Views'. Views 21-32 from this album join together to form a 360 degree panorama of the city from the tower of Trinity Church. Karachi, one of the world's largest metropolises, was once the capital of Pakistan

Map of Hyderabad and the neighbourhood executed in water-colour by Henry Francis Ainslie (c.1805-1879), January 1852. Inscribed on the front in pencil is: 'Fort of & station, with city of Hyderabad, Scinde. Jany 1852.

Water-colour painting of the Fort at Hyderabad (Sind) by Henry Francis Ainslie (c.1805-1879), December 1851. Inscribed on the front of the mount in red ink is: 'Sindh. Fort of Hyderabad, capital of Sindh, from the Belloochee lines. The tower contained the treasures of the Ameers of Sindh. Decr 1851

Sukkur in 1860s

Indus River, Kotri 1851

Girls class in progress, Kurrachee 1860s

Carpet weavers in Karachi jail, 1873

This image of a line of carpet weavers seated at their looms in a shed was shown at the Vienna Exhibition of that year. In the 19th century a number of schemes for a carpet industry was developed in government jails in India partly in order to train convicts in a skill but also to provide a cheaper market for traditional patterns

Photograph of the bazaar street at Shikarpur in the Sindh province now in Pakistan, taken by an unknown photographer in the 1890s.

The mud daub roof, supported on a wooden framework, is largely collapsed. The historic town of Shikarpur, founded in the 17th century, was once an important trading centre.

Due to its strategic location on the caravan routes of the 17th century, Shikarpur became the greatest commercial city in Sindh, Pakistan. Its merchants and bankers held commercial relations with all the principal markets of Central Asia, including Khorasan, Bukhara and Samarkand. Commercial cities of the Muslim world were known for their central covered bazaars and Shikarpur was no exception, its bazaar, lined with shops mostly run by Hindu merchants, ran through the centre of the old city, which is now much decayed.

The Persian ruler Nadir Shah (1688-1747) is said to have stayed in Shikarpur on his march through Sindh while returning from invading India in 1739. This photograph is from an album of 91 prints apparently compiled by P. J. Corbett, a PWD engineer involved in irrigation work at the famine relief camp at Shetpal Tank in 1897, and in canal construction in Sindh in the early 1900s.

Churches in Karachi (pics taken in 1850s- 1870s)

Christ church

Interior of Christ church

Church of Holy Trinity

Completed in 1855, Holy Trinity was the first major church to be built in Karachi. Although it was designed by Captain John Hill, changes were made by John Brunton during its construction. The church is built in local, buff colour Gizri stone. This view of the exterior of the church shows the tower and roof in its original state. The tower has five storeys above the buttressed entranceway of the tower and the roof is pitched. Two stories of the tower were removed for safety in 1904 and a new barrel vaulted roof was was put in place in the 1970s.

Saint Paul Church

St Paul's Church is situated on Manora island, which was first occupied by the British in 1839. This view shows the exterior of St Paul's, a simple five bay structure

St, Andrew's church

The Anglican St. Andrew's Church or Scotch Church was completed in 1868. The designer of St. Andrew's was T.G. Newnham, a Chief Resident Engineer of the Sindh Railway. The architecture of St Andrew's seen in this view shows a blend of the Romanesque and Gothic styles. The entrance of the church by means of the octagonal porch shown on the left of this photograph is unusual in its design

Photograph showing four men fishing for palla at the water's edge, with nets and earthernware floats, near Kotri in Sindh province, Pakistan, taken by an unknown photographer in the 1890s. Sindh encompasses the Lower Indus Basin with its delta, and is edged by the Arabian Sea on the south-west. The palla (tenualosa ilisha), a type of shad, is the most important variety of freshwater fish caught in Sindh. In February and March the fish ascend the Indus River in large numbers for spawning. The most common method of fishing for palla is to use a bag net attached to a long pole forked at the end. The limbs of the fork are about five feet in length and keep the net open as long as a double cord which runs along them is kept taut. The fisherman floats downstream on a chatty or earthen pot such as the ones seen in this view. His stomach forms a stopper over the mouth of the chatty while he is in the water. The fish are caught in the net then stabbed with an iron spike and placed into the chatty. The waters of the Indus provided rich fisheries, but in modern times these are under threat from over-fishing, abandoning of traditional methods, and reduction of freshwater by the increase of dams, barrages and reservoirs. This photograph is from an album of 91 prints apparently compiled by P. J. Corbett, a PWD engineer involved in irrigation work at the famine relief camp at Shetpal Tank in 1897, and in canal construction in Sindh in the early 1900s

Cousens wrote in 'The Antiquities of Sind' of 1890, "The brickwork...is very superior, the bricks, or, at least, those on the surface, being made of the best pottery clay, perfectly formed and dense, having cleanly-cut sharp edges, and of a rich dark red. The enamelled bricks are glazed, upon their outer surfaces, in light and dark blue and white...The coloured dadoes are an especially fine feature...A single design, without duplication, will sometimes cover several square yards of surface...Then, again, some tiles are as small as half an inch square, and over a hundred are used in a square foot, of mixed sizes, forming a perfect mosaic..."

Check out the old Sindhi cap on the guy, how it has evolved